


The Marauders - First Year

by apprentieguerriere



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, M/M, Marauders, Marauders Friendship, Marauders' Era
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-11
Updated: 2017-05-29
Packaged: 2018-10-30 12:45:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10877055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apprentieguerriere/pseuds/apprentieguerriere
Summary: Story describing the lives of the Marauders during their years at Hogwarts, from their very first train ride to their last. Rating will go up around the fourth year. The Marauder around which the story is centered will also change from year to year.





	1. September - Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everybody! I'm writing this thing because I always wanted to see this story told and since JK Rowling doesn't seem inclined to start this series, I figured I'd just write it.  
> Just a few things before we start :  
> -This year is centered around James.  
> -English is my second language, and while it's quite good, there might me some mistakes - please point them out to me so I can correct them!
> 
> Feedback would be very very appreciated!

His whole life, James Potter had been dreaming of this moment – boarding the Hogwarts Express Train. He’d gotten up at five this morning, too excited to sleep anymore, and had checked his luggage a thousandth time before bugging his parents for hours until they finally accepted to leave for King’s Cross. He was so excited to finally be there that he barely paid attention to his sniffling mother and barely-keeping-it-together-father, responding to their hugs and kisses briefly and nodding his head quickly to their words before they finally let him go and he could jump aboard the train.

“Do you want me to help you get that in a compartment?” his father asked gruffly, nodding towards his luggage and making a move towards the train.  
“Dad! No! I’ll look so lame if my father comes on the train with me! I can handle it!” James said, looking horrified at the prospect.

His dad rolled his eyes but smiled a little.

“Fine. You be good now, and you write often, alright?”  
“Yes, dad.”

James hastened to go further in the train before his parents could embarrass him more. He went down the alley, looking through the windows of the compartments – they were all almost empty, 15 good minutes being left to the 11 o’clock departure, but James wanted to find a compartment where somebody already was – this way it would be easier to make a friend. He finally found what he was looking for, and entered the compartment where a boy who looked his own age already sat, looking moodily through the window outside – he looked cool, James decided as he opened the door.

“Hey”, he said, “Sorry to bother you – do you mind if I sit here?”

The boy looked at him; he had dark hair, kind of messy-looking, much like James’ own, and grey eyes that conveyed boredom that James couldn’t understand on a day like this. 

“Sure, yeah”, he said, not seeming to care too much about it.

James set down his luggage before taking a seat across the other boy, who had turned back to the window and did not seem to want to engage in any conversation. He fidgeted as the train was filled with more and more students, hoping that any of them would come into their compartment and speak with him, but he had no such luck ; as the train slowly started to leave King’s Cross, they were still the only two students in their compartment, and the boy was still staring out the window. James briefly thought about just changing compartments, but that seemed rude, so he gathered his courage and opened his mouth to speak to the closed-off boy in front of him :

“I’m James, by the way.”

The boy turned his head back to him and hesitated for a couple of seconds, but to James’ immense relief, he eventually replied.

“Oh, hi. I’m Sirius.”  
“Sirius? Cool name!” James replied, with probably a little too much enthusiasm.

Sirius just stared at him.

“So, um, are you new to Hogwarts too?”  
“Yeah”, Sirius replied.

He still didn’t show any enthusiasm, which, really, what on earth was wrong with this kid?

“Um, are you okay? You seem kind of… Down.” James risked.

The other boy just shrugged. 

“What is it?” asked James. “Are you sad about leaving your family? Y’know, I’m sure you won’t even have time to miss them at Hogwarts!”

But to James’ surprise, Sirius gave a short, humorless laugh at that.

“No”, he said, “I actually couldn’t have gotten away from them fast enough.”

James blinked.

“What?”  
“It’s just… We don’t get along well.”

That was sad. James got along so well with his parents, he didn’t know what he’d do if he’d grown up in a family he didn’t like. He probably wouldn’t be as happy as he was. He briefly regretted not hugging them longer at King’s Cross. But then another thought crossed his mind.

“Then aren’t you excited about getting to Hogwarts? You won’t be seeing them for months!”  
“No.”  
“Why?”

Sirius seemed to hesitate, but then the next words came pouring out of him like he had been holding them back for weeks :

“My whole family’s gone to Slytherin. I’m sure they’ll put me in there too, and then I’ll be stuck with people like them for the whole seven years. At least I don’t have to sleep in the same room as my family. I bet all the Slytherins are just like them, this is going to be a nightmare.”

James blinked, taken aback.

“Your whole family’s gone to Slytherin?!”

That was… Well, not very good. James had spent his childhood learning everything he could about Hogwarts, so he knew all about the houses, and he knew Slytherins were evil and not to be associated with.  
But this boy… He didn’t seem evil at all. Just lonely. It wasn’t his fault he was born into a Slytherin family, after all.  
And now he looked miserable at James’ outburst. James had to fix this.

“Well, you know what? Even if you’re put in Slytherin, you don’t have to spend all your time with them. We could hang out all the time outside of classes and before curfew, if you want.”

Sirius stopped looking at his shoes to look back at him, surprised.

“Really?”  
“Yeah, of course!”

Sirius gave James a small smile, the first he’d gotten since the start of the conversation, and James smiles widely back.  
The boys spent the rest of the train ride talking animatedly. Well, at first, James did most of the talking, but the more time passed, the more Sirius talked too. By the end of the ride, he almost didn’t seem apprehensive at all, and James was over the moon at making a good friend so quickly.  
It was dark outside when the train slowed to a stop, and the boys, having changed into their wizarding robes, made their way out of the train and to the enormous man yelling “First years! All first years, come here!”. They took a boat together to the castle, and even Sirius had to lose the scowl that had gone back to his face since they’d left the train when they got their first good look at Hogwarts.  
They were ushered inside by the enormous man, who turned out to be called Hagrid, to be led into a small chamber where a severe-looking woman was waiting for them. She introduced herself as “Professor McGonagall” and instructed them to form a line before leading them into the Great Hall, where dozens of older students stared at them as they walked up to the front, before an old hat sat upon a wooden stool.

“When I call your name”, Professor McGonagall said, “step forward and come put the Sorting Hat on. It will decide which house you belong to. You will then join your house table, and we will proceed like this until every student has been sorted.”

James looked around him. Thankfully, the other students looked just as nervous as him. Only Sirius, standing right behind him, wasn’t fidgeting ; his face was set in a resigned, stony look. James shot his a nervous smile, but Sirius didn’t even seem to see him.

“Atkins, Olivia!” McGonagall called out.

The girl, trembling, walked to the hat and put it on, sitting on the stool while waiting its verdict. It took maybe two full minutes before the Hat bellowed “Hufflepuff!”.  
The girl stepped off the stool, a relieved look on her face, and set the Hat back before walking to the Hufflepuff table, who were all cheering for her.

“Black, Sirius!”

Sirius looked marginally less nervous than the girl as he walked up to the Sorting House, but he didn’t really look better neither ; he just looked like a man walking towards what he knows to be his death. James knew it was silly, but he found himself wishing with everything he had that Sirius would be sorted anywhere else than Slytherin, even though as the boy had told him, it was a sure thing in his family.  
Sirius put the Hat on his head and sat down, a resigned look on his face. The Sorting Hat opened its -well, creak through which it was speaking, and James thought fiercely “Not Slytherin, not Slytherin, not Slytherin” before it bellowed, after not even 15 seconds of thinking, “GRYFFINDOR!”  
Nobody cheered louder than James at the announcement, not even the table full of Gryffindors overjoyed at welcoming a new student amongst them. Weirdly enough, though, Sirius didn’t look so happy ; he paled, a horrified look on his face, and seemed numb as he set the Hat back and walked to his new table.  
James frowned. Why wasn’t he happy? He had gotten what he wanted! He wasn’t in Slytherin! In fact, in James’ opinion, he had gotten in the best house – the one James himself secretly whished to get in. He tried to catch Sirius’ eye across the Hall, but the boy was just looking down, still pale, frowning. 

“Pettigrew, Peter!”

James turned his head back quickly. Already at the “ps”? God, it would be his turn soon, maybe even next. A small, slightly chubby kid walked up to the Hat, shaking with fear as he put it on and sat on the stool. The room waited for the Sorting Hat’s verdict.  
And waited.  
And waited.  
And waited.  
Murmurs started to fill the Great Hall as the moment stretched ; it had to have been at least four or five minutes, and still the Sorting Hat gave no decision. The poor Pettigrew kid’s face grew more and more red as time passed, clearly uneasy at the attention he was given. Could the Hat be broken? Maybe there were too many students this year, and the Hat was exhausted and had gone back to sleep. But then would it mean James wouldn’t be sorted? What would he do then?   
But at the moment, just as Professor McGonagall was taking a step towards Pettigrew, frowning, the Hat bellowed “GRYFFINDOR!”.  
The cheers at the table were more subdued this time ; why had the Hat taken so long to chose? But, eager to move things along, McGonagall immediately called the next name on the list :

“Potter, James!”

James’ heart skipped a beat when he heard his name being called. He swallowed thickly, but then gathered his courage and tried to walk to the Sorting Hat in a confident manner. Like so many before him, he put the Hat on and sat, feeling rather silly as he faced the room.

“Oh, hello there”, said a voice in his head, startling him slightly – he hadn’t expected the Hat to talk to him in his head. “Well, well, well, that is a rather easier choice than the last one; clearly, you belong in – GRYFFINDOR!” 

The Hat had bellowed his last words, and the Gryffindors’ table erupted in cheers. James jumped down from the stool, elated, and placed the Hat back before practically running towards the table. Not only had he been put in the best house – he was with his new friend! He sat next to him, offering him a wide smile, and Sirius responded, finally having looked up from the ground, though his smile still seemed a bit forced. James frowned, remembering his friend’s weird reaction to being called to Gryffindor.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” he asked. “I thought you’d be super happy at not being sorted in Slytherin?”  
“Well, I would be if I were in Ravenclaw”, said Sirius, “but you have no idea how much my family hates Gryffindor. They’re going to hate this.”

James fell silent a bit.

“Well”, he said after a moment, “it’s not like it’s your fault, right? You didn’t chose this.”  
“That doesn’t make it better ; if anything, it makes it worse! They already think I’m too different from them. This… I wouldn’t be surprised if they told me to not bother coming home for Christmas.”  
“Wow, really? You really think they’re going to be that bad?”

Sirius nodded darkly.

“I’m sorry, mate…” James said awkwardly. “But listen, at least we get to be together, and you get to not sleep with those Slytherins!”

Sirius smiled a little.

“Yeah, I guess.”

The Sorting Hat ceremony ended then, with the sorting of “Walter, Benjamin!”, and the room fell completely silent as the Headmaster, a tall, thin man with long grey hair and a matching beard, stood up, his blues eyes sparkling as he took in the crowd of students before him.

“Hello everybody! As many of you already know, I am Albus Dumbledore, Hogwarts’ Headmaster. To those returning, I say : welcome back. To the new students : simply welcome! It is with great pleasure that I am here tonight, looking at all of you, ready to learn – or rather, perhaps, at this hour, eat! I will therefore not keep you for long – let me just first introduce you to our new Defense Against The Dark Arts professor, mister Arnold Jitters!”

Polite applause scattered around the room as a nervous-looking man stood up at the professors’ table, waving somewhat awkwardly at the students before sitting back down.

“Very well, very well. Now, a few warnings before I finally let you fill your stomachs; as usual, the Dark Forest is out of bounds for all students who do not wish to meet a gruesome end. Furthermore, I am pleased to announce that Hogwarts has welcomed a new, absolutely magnificent tree on its grounds; a beautiful, gigantic Whomping Willow. While, as I have already said, this tree is nothing short of wonderful, it also has the habits of brutally hitting anyone coming near it ; I would as such advise all of you to stay far away from it.”

At this, James couldn’t help but notice a boy fidgeting awkwardly, sitting across the table two seats away from Sirius. It was a small, frail-looking boy who had just been sorted in Gryffindor too. James made a mental note to try to make friends with him soon ; he could relate to somebody incapable of staying still during a speech.

“And with that, I say to all of you : bon appétit!”

The room erupted in applause and cheers as, on cue, the empty plates on the table were suddenly filled with delicious-looking food. James’ mouth watered at the sight of it – now that his nerves were gone, he was suddenly famished. He started pilling his plate with everything he could reach and dug in.  
When his hunger was a bit more satisfied, and as Sirius ate silently beside him, he looked around the table to see his new classmates. He saw the frail boy and Pettigrew – those seemed to be the only new Gryffindor boys. As for girls, there seemed to be five of them – a dark-skinned, dark-haired, dark-eyed one, a brown-haired, brown-eyed one, a blonde, blue-eyed one, a curly-haired, grey-eyed one and a redhead with pretty green eyes. James didn’t know their names due to his lack of attention during most of the Sorting, but the girls were already engrossed in conversation, and he figured he’d get to meet them later, so he turned his attention to the other boys. But then, he realised that Sirius, next to him, had barely touched his food.

“You’re really worried about your parents’ reaction, huh?” said James, not too loud to not attract too much attention.

He was still a bit too loud for total privacy, it seemed, because Pettigrew, seated across from Sirius, joined in :

“You’ve got trouble with your parents?” he piped in a high, squeaky voice.

Sirius shot him an angry look.

“No! What is it to you anyway?”   
“Nothing, nothing!” Pettigrew said quickly. “It’s just… I can understand. My dad he’s… Well, we don’t always get along.”

Sirius deflated.

“Oh”, he said. “Sorry. Yeah, I guess I don’t get along with my parents either.”

The boys stayed silent a moment, and James saw the opportunity for friendship and took it.

“You’re Peter, right?” he said, trying to convey enthusiasm in his voice to take the boys out of their dark thoughts.

Pettigrew nodded nervously.

“I’m James, and this is Sirius”, he said, pointing at the boy. “Where are you from?”

The boys started chatting about their respective hometowns, and James was pleased to see the conversation flow easily enough for people who had just met. He wanted to include the other new Gryffindor boy in it too, but he was seated a couple seats away from them and seemed engrossed in his plate, not really looking up from it. James mentally shrugged and thought he’d introduce himself and the other boys to him once in the dormitories – and that! Dormitories! Alone with friends! No parents! In Hogwarts! James had to supress a smile. Everything was so exciting!  
After dinner came dessert, and then, with a few parting words, Professor Dumbledore directed them to their dormitories for a good night’s sleep before their first day of classes. An older girl stood up then, a shining insigne pinned on her robe, and told them to follow her in an authoritative voice. She led them all through a series of corridors and stairs that James tried to remember so he wouldn’t get lost the next day to the portrait of a fat lady dressed in pink.

“Password?” the lady said.  
“Creeks”, answered the girl.

She turned to them as the portrait opened in a creaking sound, revealing behind it a circular opening that led to what looked like a cosy common room.

“Remember this password”, she said, “Without it, you can’t enter the common room.”

She entered the room, followed by the other Gryffindors, and pointed them to the girls’ and boys’ dormitories.  
Sirius, Peter, the unknown boys and James obediently climbed the stairs they were pointed to until they arrived at the first years’ dormitory door. Sirius opened it and walked inside, revealing a big, circular room in which were four comfortable-looking canopy beds. Everything was in warm tones of red and gold, and James could barely contain his excitement as he sat down on the bed in front of which his luggage laid.   
Sirius took the bed next to him, and Peter the other, leaving the unknown boy to sit in the bed in front of James’. Seeing he seemed unwilling to introduce themselves to them, James stood up and walked over to him.

“Hi!” he said cheerily. “I’m James, and this is Sirius and Peter. What’s your name?”

The boy looked up, seemingly startled, like he really thought the other boys were just going to ignore him – this would never happen on James’ watch. They were the four first-year Gryffindors, and they were going to live together for the better part of the next seven years, and James was going to make sure they were all best friends.

“Oh, um, hi. I’m Remus. Remus Lupin”, The boy answered, looking unsure of himself.  
“Nice to meet you, Remus”, James said.

He then turned to the boys behind him, eyebrow raised, until they all joined in with their own “Nice to meet you”. 

James wanted to chat more, but Remus seemed incredibly uneasy, and it was late anyway, and the heavy dinner made him suddenly very sleepy, so he just went back to his luggage to take out his pajamas and change clothes. The other boys did the same, and they wished each other goodnight before blowing out the candles and going to bed.  
As James laid in his huge, incredibly comfortable bed, he couldn’t help but smile excitedly to himself. Sure, the boys he was with all seemed quite angsty for their age, but James was sure they would all get along quite nicely. He couldn’t wait to see all the trouble they could get up to together at Hogwarts.


	2. September : Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! So, this is obviously an introduction to the set all the pieces of the story, but I swear things will get more interesting as time goes by! Comments are very welcome, and don't hesitate to point out any mistake ; English is not my first language, so it is very possible there are some! Also, I'm looking for a beta, if anyone would be interested in that.

The next morning, when James wakes up, it is to find Remus already gone, but the two other boys just waking up too. It is already 7:30, and their classes start at 9, so they waste no time getting dressed before going down to the Great Hall to have breakfast, tentatively making conversation on their way, wondering about their classes and professors. They sit together at the Gryffindors’ table, and soon Remus comes find them, looking quite unsure of himself, but speaking all the same :

“Here”, he says, handing each of them a parchment. “Professor McGonnagall gave me all our timetables to give to you.”  
“Thanks, Remus!” James says brightly, taking his and peering at it. 

He sees from the corner of his eye that Remus makes to leave, and so he says quickly : “Hey, come on, sit with us, help us figure out which of the professors is gonna be the most drag.”  
“Hum, okay”, the boy says, still sounding unsure as ever, but he does take place beside Peter, across from James, so the boy is satisfied.  
“That’s not hard”, says Sirius, “it’s going to be –“

But before he can finish his sentence, dozens of owls fly into the Great Hall, diving for the recipients of the parcels they carry. James’ family owl, Esther, flies down with a large enough parcel for him, containing a few sweets and a warm letter from his parents wishing him a good first day at school and reminding him not to cause trouble. As he reads it, he sees from the corner of his eye that Peter, Remus and Sirius all receive letters too ; but it quickly becomes apparent that Sirius doesn’t like what he reads in his. His face falls as he reads, and James sees his hands start to shake slightly.

“Hey”, James says, “You alright?”  
“Yeah, yeah”, Sirius says gruffly, quickly crumbling the letter and stuffing it inside his robes. “So, what have we got first today?”

James wants to press more, dying to know what could have made the boy look so sad suddenly, but he figures he’s not close enough to him yet to harass him like that, so he just says “Potions – How do you all think “Slughorn” sounds? Severe? Nice? Boring?”

Peter makes a quip about how he thinks it sounds sluggish, snickering at his own joke, and James forces himself to laugh a little. Sirius joins in on the conversation after a while, and though Remus doesn’t say anything, he stays with them until they all leave for the dungeons where their class is supposed to be located.

On their way down there, they see the redhead girl from Gryffindor that was sorted with them talking to a greasy-looking, pale, frail boy with long, dark hair. James remembers him as being sorted in Slytherin, and he decides right there and then that he needs to introduce himself to the girl, if her only friend is a Slytherin.

“Hey!” he hollers. “You! Evans, right?”

The girl and the boy stop and turn around to look at him. The girl is holding her head high, a defiant look on her face though James has done nothing to antagonize her, but the boy next to her seems very disgruntled when he sees them come closer.

“Yes”, she says shortly. “What is it?”  
“Well”, James says, a bit taken aback by her tone, “I just wanted to know if you wanted to sit with us in Potions – get to know each other a bit more, form Gryffindor bonds, you know?”

The greasy-haired boy next to her snorts slightly, and James narrows his eyes at him.

“No thanks”, Evans says. “I’m already sitting with Severus.”

That must be the name of the boy next to her, who puffs his chest in pride at her words.

“Why would you do that?” James can’t help but ask. “He’s a Slytherin.”  
“Yeah, but the Slytherins have Potions with us”, Evans says slowly, like he’s stupid.

He’s starting to be downright irritated with her. He just wanted to be nice.

“Yeah, well, I just thought you wouldn’t want to be associated with that kind more than necessary”, he spits.

Evans opens her mouth to reply to him, an angry look on her face, but the boy named Severus beats her to it, speaking for the first time : 

“Funny you should say that”, he says, “I was just wondering what the Black family was thinking of that one (he nods to Sirius) being associated with your kind. Have they disowned you yet?”

Before James can even fully process what the boy just said, Sirius launches himself at him, tackling him to the ground and getting one good punch in before James and Evans manage to pull him off. Evans help Severus back to his feet as James holds Sirius back. His friend is still snarling.

“Reacting like a proper Gryffindor”, Severus spits as he straightens himself back up, “All fists and no brains. I’m glad we don’t have to deal with that kind of –“  
“That’s enough!” Evans says, clearly done with all the drama. “Come on, Severus, let’s just get to class.”

James lets them have a good head start while Sirius cools down, Peter and Remus hovering uncertainly near them.

“You okay, mate?” James asks, a hand on Sirius’ shoulder still.  
“Yeah”, he answers through gritted teeth.  
“He’s a tosser, don’t worry about him, you can see just looking at him that something’s wrong with him.”

Sirius nods, but he still looks murderous as the four boys start walking again to their class. They take two tables as far as possible from the one Evans and Severus share, Peter with Remus (who, after this altercation, seems more unsure than ever that he wants to hang out with them) and Sirius with James. As students start filtering in and filling other tables, chatting, James turns to Sirius :

“Hey, how did he even know about your family?”

Sirius shrugs angrily.

“If he loves Slytherin as much as he seems to, he probably read about my family being in it in some history book. We’re a really rich, old pureblood family, you know. And as I said, we – well, they have all gone into Slytherin. Some of my ancestors are probably featured in those “Famous Slytherins” books.”

James nods. He wants to ask him about the letter again, but Sirius still looks angry, and perhaps now is not the best time – plus, Professor Slughorn, a short, fat man with a good-natured face, is entering the dungeon, which means class is about to start. It’s probably best to wait another time to ask him.

\--

James is, all in all, very, very happy about his first day, despite the morning altercation – his classes are all interesting enough so far (they had herbology and Transfiguration before the end of the day, the later one being taught by their Head of House, who seems to be the most severe woman James has ever seen) and it’s amazing to finally be able to use his magic freely (as he had expected, he is, so far, very good at it, and so is Sirius – naturals, the both of them), and most importantly, Peter, Sirius and him are on their way to becoming good friends. Remus, unfortunately, ditched them as soon as he could after Potions, having lunch by himself and sitting alone in their other classes. James figures he can always work on him more once his friendship with Peter and Sirius is cemented.

He's way too wired up to be able to go to sleep once they all go to bed that night, and so, after tossing and turning for a while, he opens his bed’ drapes.

“Sirius?” he whispers in the direction of the boy’s closed drapes. “Psst, Sirius?”

The boy doesn’t stir, so James picks up some parchment from his bedside table, crumples it into a ball, and throws it at the bed. There’s rustling, and then Sirius’ annoyed face emerges from an opening in the drapes.

“Merlin, what?” the boy whispers back.  
“Can you sleep? Cause I can’t”, James answers.

Sirius hesitates.

“Me neither”, he admits finally.  
“Great! Scoot over.”  
“What?”

But James is already out of his bed and shoving Sirius further into his so he can climb in too. He sits cross-legged in front of the clearly taken-aback boy, grinning.

“So”, he says, “Do you like Quidditch?”  
“Um”, Sirius says, quickly getting over his surprise, “Yeah, because I’m not completely dumb.”

The boys spend the better part of the next hour talking excitedly about their favourite teams and how they can’t wait to start flying lessons, scheduled to start on Friday. They fall in silence after a while, though, but it’s a good silence, not an uncomfortable one, and before he can help himself, James asks about the thing that has been plaguing his mind all day :

“Hey, what was in that letter you received this morning? And don’t say nothing, I saw your face.”

Sirius’ face falls, and he hesitates, but eventually speaks.

“It was from my parents. They already heard I got sorted in Gryffindor… They’re really not happy about it. They say they’re really disappointed, and that maybe it would be better for everyone if I stayed at Hogwarts for Christmas, so they don’t have to tell that shameful thing to all our family.”

James is momentarily speechless.

“That’s… Wow. That really sucks, man”, he says awkwardly.

Sirius nods.

“Yeah… But promise me you won’t tell anyone, okay? Especially not that stupid Snivellus…”

James almost falls over laughing.

“How did you just call him??” he asks, almost in tears.

Sirius starts laughing too, almost despite himself.

“I spent all day trying to think up a nickname for that slimy git”, he says. “I’ve settled on “Snivellus”. I feel like it really represents him, you know? It came to me when he tried to show off to Slughorn and had the answer wrong and went all whiny.”  
“It really does!” James says, still laughing.

The boys chat for a while still, and then it’s late enough that they’re both ready to sleep, and James goes back to his own bed, falling asleep quickly.

\---

The rest of the month goes a bit like that first day – James, Sirius and Peter getting closer and closer (though Peter is less close to James and Sirius than they are to each other), Remus shutting himself off from the rest of the group despite James’ attempts at getting him to talk to them (the boy even disappears for two days during their first week, and James wants to ask what happened, but the boy comes back looking frailer than ever, so he figures he was just sick and lets it go), regular altercations with Snivellus and Evans, who seems to have decided that James and his friends are the devil incarnate and is proving to be one stubborn witch (which James grudgingly kind of admires about her – that and the fact that she’s obviously brilliant in all their classes), and James and Sirius excelling at all of their classes with minimal effort, which cements their friendship even more. The Black boy is still sometimes brooding over his parents, but less and less often, and he now seems hell-bent on being the most Gryffindor he can be, proudly wearing their House colors, even on weekends when they don’t have to wear their uniforms, and hating the Slytherins with a burning passion. Their first flying lessons are also even greater than James would have thought – at the end of the first one, Professor Hooch, looking quite impressed, tells him he’s a natural flyer, and that he should try to be on the Quidditch team once he’s in Second Year.

Life at Hogwarts, all in all, proves to be as great as James had always dreamed.


End file.
